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Or so they’d have you believe. While we personally do take an active role in teaching our kids things like reading, writing and ‘rithmetic, we have taken entire years not doing any formal schooling and certainly aren’t on an 8 – 3 schedule with our little ones.

The world is full of valuable lessons, and for those of you who are interested in unschooling, here is our list of the ten best National Parks to just let your kids enjoy being young and learn a thing or two without even knowing it.

9. Witness Wildlife Galore in Glacier National Park

Imagine a flock of bighorn sheep careening down a mountain as though they were a wave of horns and hooves. Turn your head and a mountain goat protecting its baby is eyeing you up. And that’s just the beginning.

When the visitor center reveals that the nearly endless stream of birds you see here are only a small fraction of what once was, you’ll wonder if you should have brought an umbrella. Not for the rain, for the bird poop.

6. Get Lost in a Magical, Otherworldly Cactus Forest in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

One of the few parks you can have largely to yourself, aside from discovering this stunning forest you can learn more about US / Mexico relations firsthand from the rangers tasked with protecting this land and their opinions on who should or shouldn’t be coming over the border.

5. The Beginnings of How the West was Won Live in Gateway Arch National Park